Márton Fülöp 1983-2015

Today football sadly lost another life as former goalkeeper, Márton Fülöp passed away from Cancer at the age of 32.

Márton Fülöp

Fülöp played for a number of clubs including Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Sunderland.

The talented goalkeeper started his career in 2001 when he signed for his local side MTK Budapest. Fülöp also spent time at BKV Előre SC and BFC Siófok during the early stages of his 12 year career.

The Hungarian signed for Tottenham in the summer of 2004 after a successful trial and provided cover for Tottenham’s first team goalkeepers, Radek Černý and Paul Robinson. Following his move to North London Fülöp said “The trial went well and I’m delighted the move has gone through, this is a big step for me.” Tottenham decided to loan out the young goalkeeper in order for him to gain first team experience.

Márton Fülöp

The first location was Chesterfield where Fülöp signed on a one-month loan deal. After his return to White Hart Lane Fülöp was loaned to Coventry City where he was selected as first choice goalkeeper for the 2005/06 season. Fülöp made it clear he intended to leave Tottenham as Paul Robinson would be a hard target to beat for the number one jersey.

Sunderland signed the goalkeeper on an initial loan move with a permanent deal to follow in the January transfer window. Sunderland paid a total of £900,000 plus Ben Alnwick for the Hungarian international. Fülöp was sent out on loan to three clubs during his time with The Black Cats.

The first side to gain the services of the Sunderland goalkeeper was Leicester City. During his time at Leicester, Fülöp was selected for the Championship team of the week on two occasions. Sunderland recalled the goalkeeper on 31st December 2007. Five days later Leicester made a £1 million bid for Hungarian but Roy Keane rejected this bid and demanded a fee of £3 million but The Foxes refused to pay such a high fee meaning that the deal was now off. Later on during the January transfer window, Fülöp revealed he was unhappy with Keane for rejecting the chance to join Leicester permanently.

Márton Fülöp

Stoke City signed the goalkeeper on a loan deal in February but he was recalled just four days later as Sunderland required cover for Craig Gordon who replaced the injured Darren Ward.

Stoke made a £1.7 million bid for Fülöp but as seen in January, Keane wanted a total of £3 million for the Hungarian. The two clubs managed to reach a deal but this fell through as Stoke decided to sign Thomas Sørensen on a free transfer instead.

Fülöp joined Manchester City in April on an emergency loan until the end of the 2009–10 season as first-team goalkeepers, Shay Given, Stuart Taylor and David González were all sidelined with injury. Joe Hart was also unavailable as he was spending time out on loan at Birmingham City.

Márton Fülöp at Man City

Ipswich Town signed the former Tottenham goalkeeper in 2010. Fülöp revealed he had joined The Tractor Boys for first team experience. After just one year at Ipswich Town, West Brom snapped up the goalkeeper on a free transfer as they looked for a replacement for the departing Boaz Myhill and Scott Carson. Fülöp finished his career off at Greek side, Asteras Tripolis with 24 international caps to his name.

Márton Fülöp (left) and Gareth McAuley (right)

The Hungarian goalkeeper announced that he was taking a break from football after having a malignant tumour removed from his arm.

After undergoing an operation in June 2013, Fulop said: ”I am sure that after a few months I will be ready both physically and mentally to continue playing football.

“I’d like to train between treatment courses, as the doctors have said this is fine and heartily recommend it.”

Márton Fülöp died of cancer on 12th November 2015, aged 32.

The Hungarian national side wore black armbands in their first leg fixture against Norway in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying play-off.